Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Pitcher definitions, part 1
Ok, well this is my blog, I know everyone else is doing this, I’ve done this and this off and on, just never keep it up. Well this is another attempt. Pitchers by role, my definition, I get into many arguments about where a pitcher ranks, ace, number two, number three etc. I figure that we may need a definition to qualify each guy.
Ace is elite level pitcher with no question marks, more than likely top 15 or so in baseball, while a number one is a pitcher that is top 30 in baseball. We’ll work on the definition of who fills these gaps later, with the understanding that we’ll only name about 20-25 per category because guys are capable of moving into a level with just a half season of domininance(example, Prior isn’t an ace, he is an ace level talent, but until he can prove the ability to pitch more innings etc he isn’t an ace, but if he goes two months in the season pitching ace level and healthy he leaps into the category)
A number two is an ace level talented pitcher that hasn’t been consistent, or healthy enough to be considered a number one, either because of recent injuries or spotty track record, these are guys that if they can repeat their most recent performance(previous season) or a performance from two years ago that they failed to do in the most recent, then they may be called a number one. (different than ace for precisely this reason)
A number three is sometimes called an innings eater, this is a guy that you count on to pitche180 innings at league average ability, mind you, when these guys actually do this, their seasonal value is better than 60th in baseball, but because of the expectations for these guys going in, they aren’t considered number twos or aces.
A number four is the widest category, this is a guy that is full of question marks, this is a guy that is going to be either a below average innings eater, or a guy that is a question mark because of injury history, but isn’t good enough talent wise to make it as a number two/three.
A number five is basically a replacement level starter. Note this isn’t a replacement level pitcher which is much lower.
this is the way I look at it when I discuss different roles, which boils down to a guy that is classified as a number four or five is only a couple of starts from losing his job(or in the case of an injury prone number four, moving up in the rankings) .
Part two is going to list these guys by categories, if I forget someone, I'll be leaving about 5 spots blank per category so they can slip right in, also room for rookies and surprise (justin thompson?) players that returned from no where, still the list should include around 125 names, -considering that 86 pitchers qualified for era title there is a chance that some number 4's and 5's won't make the list.)
Ace is elite level pitcher with no question marks, more than likely top 15 or so in baseball, while a number one is a pitcher that is top 30 in baseball. We’ll work on the definition of who fills these gaps later, with the understanding that we’ll only name about 20-25 per category because guys are capable of moving into a level with just a half season of domininance(example, Prior isn’t an ace, he is an ace level talent, but until he can prove the ability to pitch more innings etc he isn’t an ace, but if he goes two months in the season pitching ace level and healthy he leaps into the category)
A number two is an ace level talented pitcher that hasn’t been consistent, or healthy enough to be considered a number one, either because of recent injuries or spotty track record, these are guys that if they can repeat their most recent performance(previous season) or a performance from two years ago that they failed to do in the most recent, then they may be called a number one. (different than ace for precisely this reason)
A number three is sometimes called an innings eater, this is a guy that you count on to pitche180 innings at league average ability, mind you, when these guys actually do this, their seasonal value is better than 60th in baseball, but because of the expectations for these guys going in, they aren’t considered number twos or aces.
A number four is the widest category, this is a guy that is full of question marks, this is a guy that is going to be either a below average innings eater, or a guy that is a question mark because of injury history, but isn’t good enough talent wise to make it as a number two/three.
A number five is basically a replacement level starter. Note this isn’t a replacement level pitcher which is much lower.
this is the way I look at it when I discuss different roles, which boils down to a guy that is classified as a number four or five is only a couple of starts from losing his job(or in the case of an injury prone number four, moving up in the rankings) .
Part two is going to list these guys by categories, if I forget someone, I'll be leaving about 5 spots blank per category so they can slip right in, also room for rookies and surprise (justin thompson?) players that returned from no where, still the list should include around 125 names, -considering that 86 pitchers qualified for era title there is a chance that some number 4's and 5's won't make the list.)
